Jonathan’s eyes flickered to the green glow emanating from within Maximus’ fingertips. Its colour matched the wall of air that trapped him. And if spending a few months with magic users taught him anything, it was that the colour of magic remains consistent with its user. The wall probably worked off that loony’s concentration, which meant Jonathan had to keep him talking to distract him. Misdirection; stage magic 101. Sounds simple enough.

“You sent Quentin to kill the auctioneer and steal that white Lily Noir, didn’t you?” He figured it best to start with the obvious. “Why didn’t you just send Michael?”

“That sentimental fool refused to do such a ‘heartless act’ after orphaning a boy on a cruise. I should never have given him the red gem if I knew he’d quit killing for me.” Maximus replied absentmindedly, focusing his eyes on the tablet. “So I hired Quentin, a man whom I knew bore a grudge against Leofric and would be more than glad to frame him. But even he failed with the task and lost the white gem in the process. Unfortunately, his payment was for me to reveal Leofric’s location. That man even humiliated me, demanding that I, a werewolf, provide him with weapons made of silver.”

Maximus scowled. “Of course, I could not risk having Quentin spill the beans on me accidentally. So I sent you people to prevent him from even meeting Leofric instead.”

“How about me? Did you send those thugs to kill me too?”

“Heavens, no. I did bribe them to place the blue gem at Oliver Harred’s place though. I figured I had time to wait for its curse to take effect on him. I had… an old grudge against that man. I never expected you to steal the gem, much less merge with it.”

“So that’s why you ‘recruited’ me? Then why wait so long to extract the gem from me?”

Maximus flicked the hovering tablet away. “Because I still needed to use you to kill Leofric. You see, each of these gems have a vow to fulfil. If they break it, the magic that holds their essence in place will be broken. By framing Leofric, you would eventually be led to him, which will inevitably lead to his demise by your hands. The red gem’s vow will thus be broken and lead us to this very moment.”

“Bullshit. No one can foresee such a long chain reaction of events.”

“Indeed, they can’t.” Maximus smirked tauntingly.

“But I have this.” He held up the white gem. “She showed me whatever I needed to do to bring my Gabriella back to me. She secretly wanted to be with me, I'm sure of it. And I want nothing more than to fulfil her wishes.”

“To be honest, I don’t think this Gabriella lady was ever really into you,” Jonathan scoffed. “If she was, she wouldn’t have done whatever witchcraft to seal herself in a gem for eternity.”

“Shut up! Shut! Up!” Maximus yelled in anger, his eyes turning yellow. “I don’t care what you think! I killed her husband, and I’ll do the same to anything that gets in my way! She’s mine!”

The green barrier flickered in his agitation. It was only for a moment, but that was still plenty of time for the speedster. Jonathan mustered as much energy as he could and blasted electricity at the wall. Maximus screamed as the barrier shattered into pieces, dispersing itself into the air.

Jonathan charged towards Maximus, but Lucy leapt in front of him and kicked Jonathan away into a wall instead. She stretched her hand towards him, but stopped halfway. Her irises flickered momentarily and she shook her head, as though trying to shake off the mind control.

Sorry, Lucy. Jonathan seized the opportunity and whipped out the silver cross. The woman screamed, cowering under its power. She backed away, until the shrieking vampire was forced into a cupboard. Jonathan hung the cross on the beam over her head, keeping his friend busy trembling under it.

Right, where was I?

Jonathan felt a hand tug on his collar before he was thrown backwards. His back slammed against a barrier again and fell to the ground with a thud. Maximus howled and clutched his head as fur rapidly grew out of his skin. It retreated as he slammed the ground in an effort to control his transformation.

“Tricky bastard,” he growled, panting heavily. “This ends now.”

He seized the hovering tablet and began reading from it.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Until thou breaks thine vow,

Death will cease thy hold on thou with thine power.

Thou shalt attune to lightning, fire, silver moon.

In gems of night to spendeth eternity separateth,

Thou art curs’d to beest.

In spades of three, thou taketh flight

Until the world doest thou right.”

The white powder began to glow as the moon burned brighter than the sun, illuminating the whole house as if it was daytime. Maximus laughed maniacally while a bright glow emanated from within Jonathan. The trapped man cowered behind the barrier, clutching the two gems in his hand tightly.

No… but I thought I-

“Boris…” a ghostly voice reverberated from Jonathan’s body. He yelped in shock as a ghostly figure emerged from his chest like an alien from a particular movie. It had a bluish tinge to it and resembled a woman. Maximus smiled widely as the spectre floated towards him.

“Gabriella, I missed you…” Maximus’ voice was abnormally high pitched.

“Boris…” the ghost repeated herself.

“Fuck you!” it screamed suddenly. “You hurt my family!”

Jonathan’s hand burned for a brief moment, and two other ghostly women burst from them. They soared around Maximus, screaming profanities at him.

“Traitor!” the red coloured one yelled. “Patron killer!”

“You got what you wanted!” The silver one taunted him in a singsong manner. “And now you honour my vow!”

Maximus slumped to the ground, shaking in disbelief. His eyes darted to the gems in Jonathan’s hands. He gasped in realisation as his face contorted in rage.

“You foolish thief! What have you done?” he screamed at Jonathan as the spectres descended upon him. Maximus stretched a hand out and attempted to claw towards him, but the ghostly figures pinned him back to the ground. A strangled scream cried out from the glaring light as Jonathan covered his eyes. The light faded away quickly, leaving a green gem in its place.

“Strike him down, my child.” The woman in a blue tinge drifted back towards him, nodding warmly. “My power is yours to command.”

“And so are ours.” The other spectres floated back into their respective vessels, which began to glow fiercely. Jonathan looked back at the floating green gem and scrunched his face in concentration. He had no idea what he was doing, but it felt right all the same. Jonathan thrust the gems forward.

A white beam of light, a red stream of fire, and a blue bolt of lightning shot out from his hand. They collided with the green gem as The Lily Noir shook violently in response, resonating with energy. Jonathan used his other hand to steady himself, fighting the vibration that coursed through his entire body as well. He screamed in effort as the energy intensified in one final burst, shattering the green gem.

Jonathan collapsed to the ground, feeling physical exhaustion for the first time in a month. But this was neither the time nor place to rest. He scrambled to his feet and rushed to the cupboard.

He heaved a sigh of relief. Lucy seemed fine, and the cross was still where he left it despite the chaos that just took place. Jonathan removed the cross, and Lucy relaxed her body. His body tensed up apprehensively at the woman still glaring at him. Oh God, please don’t tell me she’s still being controlled-

“Did you have to do that, Jon?” she pouted, stepping out of the cupboard. “Great, now I’ve really embarrassed myself thoroughly in front of you.”

Jonathan laughed in relief, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Come now, Lucy. No need to be shy. Friends forever, right?”

“Forever indeed…” she mumbled, before grinning widely at him. “Well done, by the way. Boss- I mean, Maximus ambushed me while I was still at Duncan’s grave. Guess he was really counting on you to find him. The white gem is really something; the power to control a vampire and reveal the future is not something so easily attained. Those three must have been really powerful witches during their time. What do you intend to do with the gems?”

“Keep them,” Jonathan replied simply. “So that no one else will ever be tempted to try and wield their power anymore. And besides, I think all they ever wanted was to spend eternity together in peace.”

“Well, I know a couple of talismans and spells that can help seal their magical signature,” Lucy said. The two of them walked towards the stairs, which no longer led them to a closed ceiling. Jonathan grinned at the light pouring in from the headquarters and bent down to tie his shoelaces.

“Race you there?” He smirked at Lucy. She cackled in response as black feathers began to spread over her body.

“You’re on.”